golden boy : stozier

thirty six

"so how are you doing with your parents?" richie was sat against the bleacher again, his hand brushed against stanley's arm. stanley was entirely leant back against the bleacher, head up towards the sky. richie glanced over at stanley's exposed neck, the way his adam's apple bobbed a bit in the light.

"it's alright," stanley breathed out, scratching the side of his head. the two had chosen not to go to the library with the rest of their friends. instead, richie had pulled stanley outside to enjoy the sunshine, and now he let his arms burn a little red as he sun sizzled against him.

"just alright?" richie couldn't help his finger stroking up and down the side of stanley's bicep. stanley seemed not to really notice, but he did lean his head against richie's. richie was focusing on the contact between his finger and stanley's arm to take his mind off of the idea of smoking.

he could feel his hand tingling, gently moving its way up and down stanley's arm. he was trying not to let his face redden, but he couldn't tell if the warmth in his cheeks was related to the uv rays or the touch. it was a weirdly tame touch for the two of them, but it was making richie blush nonetheless.

"it's nothing. it's normal." stanley brushed him off in his reply, and richie really considered leaning in to kiss him for a moment. he looked away, trying not to let his impulses control him. stanley ran a hand through his own hair, and richie seriously had to squint his eyes shut to focus.

"you deserve better than normal, stan," richie replied, using his other hand to rub his eyes. stanley leaned further into him.

"i'll live." stanley shuffled a little, leaning his head against richie's legs, disconnecting richie's hand from him. now, a little unsure where to put his hands, richie let them down on either side of himself, looking down to stanley. "it's seriously not that bad. i get to do a lot of reading when i'm pretending to do work. and, you know, i'll take—oh jesus, i can't say that," stanley cut himself off, laughing inappropriately.

"no, go on. i like your voice." richie let it slip out, biting his tongue afterward. stanley furrowed his eyebrows at him, as if to say, the hell? there was a smidgeon of a smile on his face, though, so richie let himself laugh lightly as he said, "sorry. dunno what possessed me."

"ooh-kay," stanley laughed as well, and any sign of awkwardness fell away, like it always did between the two of them. "i was just gonna say that i'd take neglect over a straight-up beating, but that sounds awful, so pretend like i didn't say it."

richie put a hand on stanley's head, combing his fingers through stanley's hair. stanley leaned further into his lap.

"that is pretty awful." richie mumbled, "do you know how to braid?"

"of course i don't," stanley replied, richie pulling through stanley's hair and separating the strands. he yelped, "ow! do you? or are you just knotting my hair?"

"doooon't ask questions you don't want answers to," richie said, wholeheartedly trying his best to braid. he squinted, pushing his glasses up with his forearm to see better. stanley hummed as a reply.

stanley rolled over again, burying his eyes in richie's right thigh. richie could feel the burn searing into his arms. focused too hard on looking down at stanley's hair, he didn't notice beverly approaching until she spoke.

"oh, this is where you guys are," richie's head snapped up at her voice, as did stanley, though stanley didn't move from his position in richie's lap. "richie, you're so burnt," she commented, playing with the key around her neck.

stanley finally sat up a little, looking over at richie's arms, "oh, jesus, you so are."

"i like the sun too much to move." richie shrugged, "so... avoiding bill? what are you doing out here?" he moved the conversation topic so fast that he nearly didn't catch the embarrassed look from stanley. beverly's eyebrows were pulled together, looking at stanley with an unsurprised, but confused gaze. "hello?" richie tried to snap her out of her gaze.

"oh. no, i just don't have anything left to study. and i didn't really think you guys actually left, so..." beverly scuffed the ground with her sneakers before moving over to sit down next to the two of them, on the other side of richie. stanley was still refusing to look at her.

"mm. cool."

"you're seriously burnt. you should ice that."

"okay, redhead," richie rolled his eyes at her, lying down the way stanley had, with his head now in stanley's lap. stanley was looking down at him in such a tender way that richie felt like he needed to clear his throat.

if it hadn't been for beverly right there, richie wouldn't have been able to stop himself from the thoughts running through his head. stanley's skin wasn't burnt like his own, instead lightly peppered with an olive tone like he'd been tanning on the amalfi coast. he couldn't help staring as stanley ran his hand through his hair.

the three of them soaked in the sun in an unfamiliar silence, richie only vaguely recognizing stanley's sudden awkwardness.

"my parents are doing a dinner today for the first time in a while," stanley suddenly spoke, looking only to richie as he combed through richie's hair.

"that's those smart kid dinners, right?" beverly asked gently, and while stanley didn't look at her, he did nod. richie shuffled so he could look at her.

"i'm hardly invited, though, so they're missing out on the second smartest kid at this school." richie rolled his eyes dramatically.

"shut up," beverly laughed, a real laugh. richie pushed his glasses up his face as he watched her laugh for a moment. she was pretty, you know, when she wanted to be. he could admit that. not that she held a candle to the boy he lied under right now, though.

"i so don't want to go, but it's my fuckin' house," stanley groaned a little, leaning harder against the bleacher. his hands went still in richie's hair. richie reached up, tapping the side of stanley's face with his fingers.

"you'll be alright," he said as stanley recoiled to the touch, wrinkling his nose at richie.

"so, stanley, do your parents know that you... i mean, about richie?" beverly asked, motioning between the two of them. richie looked to stanley, who gulped.

he shrugged, "they, uh, they found out, so..." he trailed off and finally gathered the courage to look beverly in the eye. regretting it instantly, he noticed beverly seemed to have wanted a different answer, but still she raised her eyebrows, as if to say and...? he paused, not sure what else to say. "it's not terrible. it's not great, but they wouldn't, like, kick me out for it."

"i'm sorry they didn't accept you, though," beverly interrupted him, both stanley and richie sharing a strange look before turning to beverly, confused. accept him? what did she mean by that?

"uh, thanks," was the answer stanley went with.